PERSONAL HYGIENE

Personal hygiene or cleanliness means keeping one’s body, clothes and shoes clean.

Personal Hygiene (Photo Credit: Deltigo.fit)

Methods of Keeping the Body Clean

• Bathe with soap and water at morning and night.
• Cut your fingernails short and keep them clean.
• Brush your teeth with tooth brush and tooth paste first thing in the morning and last thing at night.
• Wash short hair daily and long hair weekly.
• Wash hand with soap and water regularly.
• Clothes should be worn once and washed.

Ways of Keeping Our Homes Clean

• Sweep the floor regularly.
• Clean the windows regularly.
• Dust wooden furniture with dry cloth.
• Wash toilet floor regularly.
• Wash water closet daily with a cleaning chemical.

Advantages of Good Personal Hygiene

• We are healthy.
• Money is saved which otherwise would have been used to pay for medical bills.
• We look neat and attractive.

Consequences of Poor Hygiene

• Germs spread, thus causing diseases.
• Money is spent on hospital bills, rather than other purposes.
• We become unattractive to people.

NUTRITION

Food is anything which when eaten and digested, provides energy and helps us grow.

Types of Food

• Solid and liquid food. E.g. Yam, rice, milk, fruit juice.
• Local and imported food. E.g. Beans, sweet potato, pasta, cheese.
• Cereals, vegetables and fruits E.g. Oat, cornflakes, spinach, lettuce, pear, apple.

Classes of Food

• Carbohydrate
• Protein
• Fats and Oils
• Vitamins
• Mineral Salts
• Water

Classes of Food (Photo Credit: Settleinelpaso.com)

Classes of Food According to their Functions

• Energy-giving Foods:
  1. Carbohydrates – These contain carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. E.g. Rice, yam, bread, potatoes.
  2. Fats and Oils – These contain carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. E.g. Margarine, butter, palm oil.

• Body-building Foods:
  1. Proteins – These contain carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorous. They help in body building, growth, and the repair of worn-out cells. E.g. Eggs, beans, meat, fish.

• Health Preserving Foods: These are foods that keep us healthy. They include:
  1. Mineral Salts – These are chemical substances which help improve the general health of the body.
  2. Vitamins – Vitamins keep the body healthy and are found in fruits and vegetables. The classes are:
     • Vitamin A
       • Source: Tomato, Palm Oil, etc.
       • Function: Aids growth and good eye sight.
       • Effect of Deficiency: Retards growth and causes night blindness.
     • Vitamin B1
       • Source: Green vegetables
       • Functions: Aids growth
       • Effects of Deficiency: Beriberi
     • Vitamin B2
       • Source: Milk, eggs, etc.
       • Functions: Helps in respiration
       • Effects of Deficiency: Anemia, Pellagra
     • Vitamin C
       • Source: Oranges, vegetables, etc.
       • Functions: Helps in healing wounds and developing strong bones and teeth
       • Effects of Deficiency: Scurvy
     • Vitamin D
       • Source: Eggs, etc.
       • Functions: Adds calcium to bones and teeth
       • Effects of Deficiency: Rickets
     • Vitamin E
       • Source: Liver, eggs, green vegetables, etc.
       • Functions: Helps in reproduction
       • Effects of Deficiency: Sterility
     • Vitamin K
       • Source: Green vegetables
       • Functions: Helps in blood clotting
       • Effects of Deficiency: Blood clots very slowly

• Water: This is made up of hydrogen and oxygen. Water makes up 90% of the blood. The following are the functions of water:
  • It is necessary for growth
  • It is necessary for digestion and absorption
  • It helps chemical reactions in the body
  • It regulates the body temperature
  • It helps in excretion

Balanced Diet or Adequate Diet

This is the meal that contains all the classes of food in the right amount.

DRUG ABUSE

Say No to Drug Abuse (Photo Credit: Von.gov.ng)

• A drug is a chemical substance which affects the function of a living organism.
• Drug misuse is the use of a drug for a purpose for which it is not suited.
• Drug abuse is the use of drugs without a doctor’s prescription or recommendation.
• Substance abuse is the abuse of substances, whether they are drugs or not.
• Drug addiction is the dependence of a person on a drug

Causes of Drug Abuse

• Curiosity
• Lack of self confidence
• Desire to fit in a peer group
• Search for excitement
• To reduce stress and frustration

Classification of Drugs

• Narcotics – Drugs that make people sleep or relieve pain. E.g. Opium
• Sedatives – They induce sleep and reduce anxiety. E.g. Barbiturates
• Stimulants – They excite the central nervous system. E.g. Caffeine, Cocaine, and Amphetamine
• Tranquilizers – These change am individual’s mood or emotional state. E.g. Valium, and Libirum.
• Hallucinogens – These make an individual unable to separate fact from fantasy. E.g. LSD, and marijuana.